The CBI has closed the corruption case registered against S K Sharma, former director general (investigation) of income tax due to lack of evidence .The special court recently accepted the closure report.In 2007, Sharma was accused of abusing his official position by obtaining illegal gratification from directors of two private companies in Pune and Mumbai through assistant commissioner income tax, Gopal Sharma, and a chartered accountant, Chandan Parmar.

Special judge S P Kulkarni said the telephonic conversation , of which transcripts were produced before the court by the CBI, were not sufficient to show any commission of the offence by Sharma. Sharma, an IAS officer of 1970 batch, made headlines in 2005 when he raided several prominent educational institutions where there were irregularities in the admission process and which had accepted large sums in donations. The CBI had then alleged that Sharma took around Rs 35 lakh and Rs 25 lakh from two directors of construction companies to dispose of their cases and prevent a raid on tax evasion charges.

There was no evidence to show any amount was transferred to the accused or that the subordinate officers had helped and abetted the accused as alleged, the court said. The opinion given by the investigation officer is based on the material evidence collected by him during the course of investigations and this investigation proved to be a futile exercise, the court said.

Sharma said, I was framed by people against whom I had initiated action. Now my reputation will be restored.